International financial news

A ROUNDUP of news in finance, economics and business from around the world:

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

BOAO, China - Australian and Chinese currency will be traded in China for the first time under a deal to be announced by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

LISBON - Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho has announced severe cuts in public spending following a decision by the constitutional court rejecting a number of austerity provisions in this year's budget.

PARIS - France says it is looking to tighten Europe-wide measures against tax evasion as it scrambles to contain a fraud scandal that has rocked President Francois Hollande's government.

BOAO - International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has told an audience in China the euro has a solid future and she hopes no more countries in Europe will need bailouts.

WASHINGTON - A trove of data obtained by a US-based journalists' group that details thousands of offshore accounts reveals several instances of swindles and other financial crimes, The Washington Post newspaper reports.

LONDON - Britain's Business Secretary Vince Cable says he has ordered an investigation to see whether three former bosses of collapsed British bank HBOS could be banned for life from being company directors.

WASHINGTON - A trove of data obtained by a US-based journalists' group that details thousands of offshore accounts reveals several instances of swindles and other financial crimes, The Washington Post newspaper reports.

WASHINGTON - A startup whose business model is based on tiny antennas receiving over-the-air television for online viewing by subscribers has put the US broadcast industry on the defensive.

LOCAL NEWS

CANBERRA - Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the opposition leader are continuing their bitter war of words on superannuation and each other's economic management credentials, despite being on separate continents.

CANBERRA - Finance Minister Penny Wong has refused to say whether the May budget will feature a surplus sometime over the four-year forward estimates.

SYDNEY - A business organisation says both sides of politics need to show how they will ensure the rollout of the national broadband network.